A typical fuel dispenser includes the ability to pay for fuel at the fuel dispenser without having to pay for such transaction remotely such as in a convenience store. Such fuel dispensers have input and output devices directed towards the customer. Input directives include payment selection, grade of fuel to be delivered, and hose selection. Fuel dispensers often include a payment medium such as a magnetic card reader, bar code reader, or wireless communication to determine the customer's account number to which to charge the fueling transaction. Fuel dispensers also have various selection input buttons (often including a numeric keypad for inputting, e.g., a PIN), an LED and/or LCD display, and a receipt printer—in addition to one or more hoses for dispensing the fuel. Output devices include accounting of the fueling transaction such as total cost and volume of fuel dispensed and the price per volume, displays for instructions, and receipt for record of fueling transaction.
The functions performed at a fuel dispenser include obtaining a customer's credit card or other account information, selection of fuel grade, optional purchase of additional products and/or services (e.g., a car wash), and printing a receipt containing an accounting of the transaction. In short, the entire fuel sales transaction can be accomplished by the customer at the fuel dispenser, without the need for any action by a salesperson or attendant. In fact, totally automated fuel dispensing parks, i.e., with no human operators, are known in the art.
Currently undergoing research and development are a variety of systems for automating fuel dispensing. Sometimes, these systems employ a robotic fuel dispensing mechanism to dispense fuel into the customer's vehicle, obviating the need for manual actuation of the hose and nozzle of present fuel dispensers, by either the customer or an attendant. A natural result of such automation may include the reduction of input and/or output devices at the fuel dispenser. The input and output device dramatically increase the cost of a fuel dispenser, as compared to one of comparable functionality without such components. These components also decrease the reliability of the fuel dispenser, as each must be made relatively weatherproof. For instance, the customer may not need to input a grade selection for fuel if the customer is using a transponder to pay for fuel that also includes and communicates the customer's grade selection to the fuel dispenser. However, fully automated fuel delivery systems still may need to perform certain interface functions with the customer such as delivery of a receipt or accounting of the fueling transaction, and thus may require some input and/or output devices.